To get an understanding of the threats to the Painted Dogs we have been out with the Anti-Poaching Unit (APU) for a mornings patrol. When PDC was first set up, so many of the dogs were being trapped in illegal snares set out in the bush around the fringes and also within the National Park. Snares have been used for centuries as a hunting aid but the traditional methods were very different to what we see today.

The free availability of fencing wire from long abandoned field boundaries has resulted in hundreds of death traps left out in the bush. The APU patrol huge areas around the PDC centre and the park boundaries removing snares and capturing poachers. The area we patrolled with them is close to the centre and has been free of snares for some time now as the poachers know they operate in this area but they also deployed further afield where poaching is still rife.

Buffalo - death by natural causes thankfully

The guys are well organised, disciplined and educated. They use every opportunity to gather intelligence and spread the anti-poaching message. PDC sponsors a football league that gets the APU out into the different villages meeting other young men of their age to speak to them of their work.

The guys have recently been spending a week or so out in the bush, camping and patrolling areas closer to the villages where the poaching is going on. In 2 weeks they removed over 250 snares out of this area. It's obvious people think of poaching as a means to an end so PDC have to show them there are alternatives. This is where the art centre comes in. Taking the wire from the APU that has been removed from the bush they convert this to amazing artwork in praise of the animals they have saved. This artwork is then sold worldwide to provide an important income to the local community. It's ultimate recycling.

Agnes from the Art Centre with a snare

The artists are also trained in bead work for sculptures, drawing and the traditional basket weaving. The models they make are very intricate and beautiful. These are ideal gifts for tourists to buy as they don't contain wildlife products such as wood and bone that may have come from unsustainable sources.

An artist makes a model of a Lilac Breasted Roller copied from the guide book.